Chris Medina eliminated from 'Idol'

Oak Forest singer's cut Wednesday brings Jennifer Lopez to tears

February 23, 2011

In the end, Chris Medina, the barista from Oak Forest, kept his cool. Jennifer Lopez, the multimedia superstar, could not.

Medina, who made an emotional impact on "American Idol" when he brought his brain-injured fiance, Juliana Ramos, into the audition room with him, was cut from the reality series Wednesday night as it began winnowing to a final 24 contestants.

"Now I'm gonna go home and keep writing music, take care of my fiancee and make a miracle happen," Medina, 27, said on the prerecorded show, one of the last two before live episodes of TV's top-rated show begin next week.

Lopez, though, seemed to take elminating Medina from the singing competition especially hard, and fellow judges Randy Jackson and Steven Tyler had to work harder to console her than they had with the affable Medina. "I don't want to do this anymore," a tearful Lopez said, in the moment the two-hour episode had been teasing all night. "I just don't feel like I told him in the right away."

She had encouraged him to continue pursuing music and praised the way he "stands up as a man."

Medina, who had sung Coldplay's "Fix You" in his apparently deciding moment, said: "Juliana's more popular than I am. I'm just really happy that you guys met her. I mean, if you asked her now what was the best time of your life, she will tell you, 'When Steven Tyler kissed me on the cheek and when I got to shake J-Lo's hand ... '"

The judges passed Haley Reinhart, a student from Wheeling, through to the final 24. The fate of Aurora's Tatynisa Wilson, a 20-year-old waitress, will apparently be revealed on Thursday's show, when the remainder of the finalists are announced.